Prediction of the impacts of potential earthquakes is enhanced by detailed and accurate data on fault structures. From 2013–2014, the USGS and Utah State partners acquired 3,682 km2 of 8 points/m (Quality Level 1) lidar for areas along the Wasatch Front in Utah. The data span the urbanized areas of Salt Lake and Utah Counties, and the entire length of the Wasatch Fault from Sanpete County north into Oneida County in southeastern Idaho. The USGS Earthquake Hazard Program and Utah State Geological Survey are using these data to map traces of the Wasatch Fault in unprecedented detail, identify previously unrecognized fault strands, and help identify new sites for future paleoseismological studies. Initial results from this mapping were presented at the 2014 American Geophysical Union Fall Meeting. A short video (1 min, 34 sec) describing the acquisition effort can be accessed at http://vimeo.com/89565010.
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U.S. Department of the Interior